In his "Producer's Note" in the beautiful book that is part of the box, Lemieux, who attended the first 10 shows on the tour, states, "To my ears this was the last tour that was consistently great, where every show is excellent, not a dud in the bunch." And Grateful Dead historian Dennis McNally's comprehensive and informative insider's essay in the box is titled "The Last Great Dead Tour." These guys know what they're talking about.

Basically, the band had been on an upward trajectory since Garcia's return to the road in the spring of '87, following his near-death the previous summer. Of course, 1987 was a trip in itself, what with the unexpected mega-success of In the Dark and their first hit single, "Touch of Grey." But the momentum just kept building with each subsequent tour, as Garcia got back up to full speed (and then some!) and the group as a whole was as unified as they had ever been since Brent joined the band in the spring of '79. New original tunes were popping up and the old favorites were imbued with a freshness and spirit that was so uplifting and inspiring. The band was having fun again, and it was downright infectious.

The group's fall 1989 shows-as documented two years ago on the Formerly the Warlocks box (two shows from Hampton, VA, 10/8-9/89) and on the 2001 release Nightfall of Diamonds (a single night in NJ, 10/16/89)- kicked the energy level up another couple of notches, as the band reintroduced such loved classics as "Help on the Way" > "Slipknot!," "Attics of My Life," "Death Don't Have No Mercy" and "Dark Star."

And when the band hit the road in mid-March 1990, they had a bunch of other cool tunes to lay on their unsuspecting crowds, including the return of "Loose Lucy" (last played in 1974; it's not on this box), Brent's "Easy to Love You" (missing since 1980), a rollicking cover of the Rolling Stones' "The Last Time," The Band's "The Weight" (with all four singers taking a verse each) and a lyrically retooled "Black-Throated Wind" (absent since 1974), which elicited huge cheers every time it was played.

Over these six shows, most of the cornerstones of the Dead's repertoire from the era appear-splendid versions of "Scarlet Begonias" > "Fire on the Mountain," "China Cat Sunflower" > "I Know You Rider," "Playing in the Band," "Uncle John's Band," "Eyes of the World," "Estimated Prophet," "Truckin'," "Sugar Magnolia," "The Other One," "Terrapin," "Stella Blue," "Feel Like a Stranger," "Bird Song," "Let It Grow," "China Doll," "Box of Rain," "Morning Dew"; you name it. From the fall '89 breakouts come "Help-Slip-Frank," "Attics of My Life" and "Death Don't Have No Mercy." Among the still newish tunes are "Picasso Moon," "Blow Away," "Foolish Heart," "Just a Little Light," "Victim or the Crime," "Standing on the Moon," "We Can Run" and a couple that would get their final plays from the Grateful Dead on this tour-"Built to Last" and "Believe It or Not." There are stirring renditions of "Dear Mr. Fantasy" and "Black Muddy River," rockin' takes on "Gimme Some Lovin'" and "Iko Iko" and the only version of the full "Hey Jude" the band attempted in the modern era. And the "Rhythm Devils" and "Space" jams at the heart of each second set are as noisy-beautiful-scary-funny-intense-mysterious-wild as you'd expect/hope for.

Of course, we understand that some of you may have other favorite shows from this tour you wish were included on this box. Really, you can't go wrong with any of them. But at 18 discs, this is still the second largest Grateful Dead box (after Europe '72: The Complete Recordings) that's been released, and the non-inclusion of any other shows from the tour definitely does not preclude their future release! But this seemed like a more manageable way to go, while still giving a sense of the tour's amazing depth and breadth.

Besides the discs themselves, Grateful Dead: Spring 1990 has much to offer, including: a gorgeous 60-page hardcover book containing copious color photos by Jim Anderson and Michael Laurentus, unique artwork by Brooklyn-based fine artist Wes Lang, fascinating business letters and communications related to the tour, a detailed historical essay by Dennis McNally, a Producer's Note by David Lemieux and individual show descriptions by Blair Jackson; a reproduction of the Dead's 1990 tour program (printed and sold later in '90, for the fall and Europe '90 tours); tickets and backstage passes of all six shows; a band publicity photo from 1990 by Ken Friedman; Dennis McNally's tour laminate; and reproductions of the colored 8x10 sheets GDTS sent out with hotel, food and other information for each city on the tour.

With recordings made by longtime Grateful Dead recordist and producer John Cutler, mastered by Jeffrey Norman in HDCD, you just know it's gonna sound great-and it does!

So, that's the skinny this time 'round. This box is limited to just 9,000 numbered copies - please note, this is the only time these shows will ever be officially available on CD. There will not be an All Music Edition and single shows will not be available physically. Due to ship out August 31st, we anticipate that this extraordinary set will sell-out, so order your copy today!

If you're looking for more of a bite-sized taste of the '90s, Spring 1990: So Glad You Made It, a 2-CD set featuring a handful of favorites, will be in stores on September 18th.

Disc 1
1. Feel Like A Stranger [8:12]
2. West L. A. Fadeaway [7:41]
3. Easy To Love You [6:14]
4. Beat It On Down The Line [3:34]
5. It Must Have Been The Roses [6:29]
6. The Last Time [5:40]
7. Picasso Moon [7:07]
8. Don't Ease Me In [3:30]

I see what you are saying. I too like Jerry better than Hendrix and Clapton; et. , al.. Yes those readers polls are popularity contests. While I like Kurt Cobain as a song creator even Kurt would laugh at his high ranking on those silly lists.

Thanks for you take and now I have dust off my Dick's Picks # 8 Harpur college!!!

Have you carefully listened to the Englishtown one? There's a whole added section of guitar jam before the vocals begin that isn't on ANY other Eyes I've ever heard, and it's fantastic.

Just listened to your 7/8/78 Eyes. Hot! I heard it here and the whole concert can be downloaded:
http://archive.org/details/gd1978-07-08.fob.knight.motb-0068.91766.flac16
Is this show on any official release?

The intro (prior to vocals starting) is better on Englishtown, but as a whole they are both HOT!

"Hey rbmunkin. I like your bold statement that our Jerry was the best rock guitarist in the late 60s and early 70s.
Can you elaborate it bit more? I want to hear your take on this"

Not sure how to answer this but I'll try.
Listen to him note by note. When he's hot there is no beating him. NO ONE.
His subtlety is astonishing. Most people miss it because it's not obvious, loud, and up front the way most leads are. He's much more than a lead guitarist. Listen to disk 2 of Dicks' Pick's #8. No other guitarist can touch this with a 20 foot pole.
And who can improvise the way Jerry can?

And his breadth of talent also. Hendrix to me was a bit one-sided. The over all sound always sounded a bit the same. Absolutely amazing but limited IMHO.

It's only a "bold statement" because of the popular media. Those stupid "best guitarist" lists are NOT about quality. They are about subjective favorites. So they get a bunch of people to vote and they vote on what they LIKE without listening to the actual talent and attempt to objectively analyze the technique, uniqueness, and breadth.

You say it's all subjective? I disagree. On the surface of it, yes, it seems "obvious" that who is best in music (and any art) is totally subjective. You would almost think no one would argue with that point, right? Wrong. I would. As would Pirsig. Ever read Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance? It's about "QUALITY". Very interesting read.

To drive the point home that art has an objective component, here's an extreme example: is it subjective that Jerry is a better guitarist than me? After all, I might find one person in the world who would say I was better (my Mom!). So does that make me a better guitarist than Jerry to her? No. It makes her wrong!

How about Brittany Spears vs. Janis Joplin as singers? Since Brittany had a MUCH larger following does that make her a better singer? Of course not; that's absurd. See? So Janis is objectively a better singer than Briittany and Jerry is objectively a better guitarist than me (by about 800 zillion miles, no matter how many people I could find to say I'm better). It's just an objective fact.

So I contend that the whole notion that it's "all subjective" is a lie and only if you look at it superficially.

Jerry: #1!
Come on, look at the guitarists that are put ahead of him and then ACTUALLY LISTEN to what they can do note by note, jam by jam.
http://www.outsidethebeltway.com/100-greatest-guitarists/

Eric Clapton better than Jerry? You know that's just due to "popularity". LISTEN TO THEM AND COMPARE! It's absurd.
Jimmy Page, Keith Richards, KURT COBAIN???!!! The only explanation about these lists is that they are not about talent or quality but about SUBJECTIVE PREFERENCE. People are not putting their likes and dislikes aside to actually LISTEN.

I'm surprised how much I'm enjoying the jams on this set. I'm thinking they may be the best of any since 1976. Bob, Phil, and the drummers right up front with Jerry. But damn, they're short! I mean, you better not get distracted or you'll miss them. One sneeze and you have to start the jam over. I'm doing a lot of replays on this one. I know some people like that- it's "concise and to the point". Just a little hard for me to get used to. (and think, only 6 months later gave us the great Sept 90 "Road Trips" that has a fantastic 40 minute jam to open disc 2). I'm really liking the newer material -"Believe It or Not" is a gem. I always liked "Foolish Heart". I remember reading a scathing review of that song many years ago. It said it sounded like some "homeless haight ashbury acid casualty" singing on the streets. I thought "hey, no wonder I like it"! Keepin' it real!

I'm one of the lucky ones who never had any problems with Deadnet or Rhino. I admit I really have no idea how good or bad overall the service is. I mean it's all a percentages game isn't it? So if 99% of all Spring 90 are packaged and shipped perfectly that still leaves 90 screwups and many of those affected will be posting their experiences here. Is 99% good or bad compared to other similar services? What's the real percentage of screwups? 1% or 40%? Who knows? Also, it's hard to tell from a handful of personal accounts the quality of anything- as everyone knows who has used tripadvisor or yelp knows. Just saying the obvious i guess. For sure we know Rhino is not 100% perfect. I think this forum was more fun when we were having pointless and petty arguments about eras and keyboard players.

Reading the language of this release, I think that sometime next year, this will become available as a digital download at a much lower price for those of us you don't care about fancy packaging, silly trinkets and a somewhat questionable collectable limited edition.

Reading the language of this release, I think that sometime next year, this will become available as a digital download at a much lower price for those of us you don't care about fancy packaging, silly trinkets and a somewhat questionable collectable limited edition.

I am somewhat of an impartial observer since I did not buy this set. No point in going into it, but I was a buyer of the E72 box and let's just say that it all worked out after perhaps an extra three months of emails, phone calls, AmEx chargebacks etc. I was left with such a bad taste in my mouth that I sold the box, although I will say that the music is awesome! I skipped this box because of the above, as well as the time period not really being my thing.

Enough background, my observations are generally really positive:

+ Rhino seems to have *really* listened to complaints about E72 and made the CD cases better, put more cool swag in the box, etc. You can't please everyone, and they didn't try to squeeze shows onto two discs by moving an encore around, which brings up the inevitable "we want filler" response. Rhino can't win on that one. If they added filler, others would complain that they ruined the flow of the show, and if they moved the encore that would also get folks howling.

+ They have started under promising and over delivering, a good move. Set expectations for a September ship date and then start shipping early.

- Quality control (broken discs? two of one disc and non of another?) seems to still be a much bigger issue than it should be. Their frequency of problems must be 10x the industry average.

- Shipping is still a nightmare. Like with the E72 communication, shipping notices are either completely erroneous or they have a UPS tracking number when they are shipped USPS. How can this *not* yet be fixed?

- Have a customer service rep suggesting that the course of action for one bad disc is to send back a 20 pound box suggests a disturbing lack of common sense.

- Extra discs should be on hand for inevitable quality problems based on the issues above. Waiting for complaints and then firing up a second run of miscellaneous discs is not a good practice for customers buying a premium product and expecting it to be right from the beginning or fixed quickly.

- A $30 or $40 Priority Shipping pricetag with later deliveries than standard is laughable from the outside and probably really upsetting if it happens to you.

So I received my 1990 Box Set in the mail, and am extremely happy....sorta. Disc 3 from 3/19 was all scuffed and would not play. I called the customer service hotline, and the lady took my info and said that I would receive an email stating when the replacement disc would ship. After 3 days, I got a funny feeling that prompted me to call again. When I did, a differently lady told me that I needed to call the Rhino Customer Service hotline. When I did, there was a message saying that they were unable to help anyone at this time, and to just leave a message...not that they were closed, they just were going thru issues at the time, but they promise they will call back. I really wish the first lady from Dead.Net would've had the correct info the first time, and am also wondering what is going on with Rhino????? I am also wondering what she did with the info that I gave her. It sounded like she was at her home...there was a dog barking and a little kid talking in the background. I work early, so I needed to call at 5am. Does anyone have any info/advice? I am not a whiner, just someone who wants to know that my issue is being handled. Love the rest of the box set, though. It sounds amazing...except for one disc. Sincerely, Mr. Whiner

Indian skull T-Shirt: "Each product is limited edition and will not be made again." -->Sold out. After selling out they brought a new Navy Blue model. Limited naturally.

Indian skull poster: Limited edition run of 500 units. --->Mark Is Dead: “On another call I made when my poster never showed they said they had accidently allowed too many people to order and they were waiting for more to arrive possibly in the middle of September (so much for only 500 being printed).”

Spring 90 Box: This box is limited to just 9,000 numbered copies - please note, this is the only time these shows will ever be officially available on CD. --->“This item is temporarily unavailable. We have a small quantity of units still coming off the line. We will notify dead.net subscribers when the last of the 9,000 units are available for purchase.”

Daves Picks 3: Limited Edition of 12,000. ---->“We were very disappointed to learn that a few hundred copies of Dave's Picks: Volume 3, shipped via USPS, have been lost in the mail. We plan to correct the issue and take care of your order by pressing a very limited numbered edition of Dave's Picks: Volume 3.”

I have been reading the feuding and bickering between fans on this site for some time and have but one thing to say: "Can't we just get along?" With that being said, I must agree with one thing for certain; the shipping of this product has been the worst I have seen to date and the customer help desk has been totally useless. I have been a fan for many years and always loyal have ordered each new set as they have been released and have NEVER had a problem with anything ordered. I ordered this box set as soon as it was announced along with the poster and then sat back comfortably to wait for the dates listed on my confirmation; poster to be shipped on 15 Aug and Box Set to be shipped on 31 Aug. When reading the posts and learning that the shipping dates had been apparently moved up I became anxious and antsy for my new fix GD as this era is one of my favorites. However days passed and nothing changed on my shipping order and there was no charge on my charge card so I became worried and finally called to see what my order status was and that is where the dissatisfaction started. I was given the run around by every person I talked to. First they stated my poster had been shipped on the 15th as promised and my box set would ship on the 31st as stated. On another call I made when my poster never showed they said they had accidently allowed too many people to order and they were waiting for more to arrive possibly in the middle of September (so much for only 500 being printed). When I called again I was told I could authorize them to split the order instead of waiting for the both to ship at the same time. This was on the 29th and the hitch was they would have it in the mail by the 31th (original projection for shipping). A day later upon returning home I had a call from the order status department recorded on my answering machine and the young lady related she was very sorry for all of the confusion and that my package had been shipped on the 22nd and if I didn't receive it by the 31st I should contact them immediately. Now the 1st of Sept I finally received my tracking number and I am waiting to see what day my shipment was actually shipped on. It has just been a long strange trip filled with misinformation lies and BS and I am very disappointed to say the least at the dishonesty and lack of intelligible information received from the staff manning the 'order status' Department. I feel drained and exhausted like I feel when I have been to the Dept. of Motor Vehicles. I guess it is true as they say; everyone is promoted to their highest level of incompetency and the folks running this mess were in deed incompetent.

No, by none of us I mean none of us. As I said before if your order is screwed up that's one thing, however if you continue to order from this site even after you claim you would never again after ordering Europe '72 then no one wants to hear it. Do what you say you're going to do. I see a few people on here that claimed they would never order again after Europe '72.

No, by none of us I mean none of us. As I said before if your order is screwed up that's one thing, however if you continue to order from this site even after you claim you would never again after ordering Europe '72 then no one wants to hear it. Do what you say you're going to do. I see a few people on here that claimed they would never order again after Europe '72.

I've just checked back on the various letters sent by customer services and they state the following::
Allow 8-12 working days for delivery
Allow three weeks for delivery - let them know if nothing has arrived by 12 Sept.
Based on the above I would not expect anything until middle of the coming week but we shall see. It seems to take at least a week for anything to come from the US to the UK.
If your stuff has not turned up ina reasonable time then don't keep stump, badger dr rhino and dead.net customer services until you get a response (use Marye as a weapon of last resort)
I suspect both Rhino and dead.net are operating on a minimal staff basis (and this is the holiday season) and are struggling a bit. I also suspect that the delays to DP3 are down to the fulfilment centre not sending stuff out for one reason or another - you can speculate on this.

I've just checked back on the various letters sent by customer services and they state the following::
Allow 8-12 working days for delivery
Allow three weeks for delivery - let them know if nothing has arrived by 12 Sept.
Based on the above I would not expect anything until middle of the coming week but we shall see. It seems to take at least a week for anything to come from the US to the UK.
If your stuff has not turned up ina reasonable time then don't keep stump, badger dr rhino and dead.net customer services until you get a response (use Marye as a weapon of last resort)
I suspect both Rhino and dead.net are operating on a minimal staff basis (and this is the holiday season) and are struggling a bit. I also suspect that the delays to DP3 are down to the fulfilment centre not sending stuff out for one reason or another - you can speculate on this.

Everyone needs to stop their bitching and complaining. If you haven't gotten something you ordered that's one things but enough of these people saying they don't like the way things are being run. If you don't like the way things are going stop buying from them. I see some of the same people complaining about this box set who said after the Europe 72 blow up that they would never buy anything from these guys again and of course they did. Don't continue to buy and complain, don't expect things to change and if you do expect that and continue to buy then that's your problem to deal with it because none of us want to hear it anymore.

What happened over the last few months at dead.net and Rhino (and what is their relationship)?

Things were pretty smooth before and now they are totally screwed up. Was there a mass exodus of personnel? Did they fire everyone and hire new people and have to train them? What could have happened? It can't be that hard to organize shipping and inventory.

And why am I constantly told to contact Rhino when I bought from Dead.net? If I have a problem with something I bought from Amazon and contact them, they don't tell me to contact the publisher of the book! I bought it from them and they handle it on the spot.

Get off the crack dudes!

I WONDER IF THEY REALIZE THEY ARE GOING TO LOSE CUSTOMERS THE WAY NETFLIX DID WHEN THEY SCREWED UP BIG TIME? I'LL BE VERY HESITANT TO PURCHASE FROM DEAD.NET AGAIN.

Annoying, Aggravating, Anxious and a few other things. Was assured Thursday that the box would ship Friday. Of course that doesn't show anywhere as having happened, and it's Labor Day weekend. I walked into a customers yesterday (Friday), the wife says, "Guess what Greg got" and shows me his box. "He's so excited!" Arrrggghhh!
Went to the Facebook page and saw all the posts starting back on the 24th of folks getting their boxes and how much they luv 'em. Arrrggghhh! Think it's time for a nice long morning walk. Then come home and dive into my vines collection. Have all kinds of '68, '69, '70, '71 shows I haven't come close to listening to. Everyone knows these were the best years anyway. Who needs '90's Dead....anyway?
Make that: AAAArrrggghhh!

yeah, big time, but, lets print some more, number them whatever and pass them off as the original 9,000. Rhino, you have screwed the pooch again, how do you people keep your jobs? if any of ya worked for me, you would have been replaced long ago. In my experience any of you who have not received your copy or have defective product will not get satisfaction, you will be lied to, told all is well, ignored, or just out and out screwed, but after it all is said and done, you will have a nasty taste in your mouth and will have to spend lots of your personal time trying to get what you paid for, then, if you bitch enough, they will, maybe after a year or so, promise to help you. Does this sound like customer service to you? Sounds like a nightmare to me.

It's getting pretty depressing logging in everyday in the hope that someone in the UK/Europe has their DP3 or Spring '90 box only to discover that there seem to be more problems and few answers with poor Mary being swamped, but as always very helpful.
One wonders how hard it can be to organize this thing, Volumes 1and 2 of DP get released/delivered no problem, Vol. 3 and it hits the fan.
S90 people are asked to order and pay for their order, get a suprise email/message stating box has been posted early and a week/ ten days later they are still waiting even if they only live a few miles away. (not talking UK/Europe here I would to wait 10/12 days for this).
I know I don't need to look at the site, and wouldn't get depressed if I didn't but sheez you do hope there will be good news. Never even thought of doing the rant thing, "never buying again", "rip off" or any of the many others, everyone makes mistakes and anyone who is or has worked for a living may be suffering from selective memory if they think they didn't when they were employed, but please just let us no what is happening and when you find out what it was that caused the problems...............................................fix it!

I have been reading all the post about DP3 and S90. Customer service has blown this stuff sky hi. I ordered S90 30 minutes after it was posted. Yet, folks in Canada have received their copies already? When I call I get fed a load of BS, always a different answer. The Supervisor had to come on to finally get me a answer. The bottom line is that they are all dazed and confused. The Supv told me that I may receive a tracking number or I may not. Also that if I did receive a tracking number it probably would not work anyway? She did refund my shipping cost, I was grateful for that. I'll just keep waiting like many others.

Sorry to hear that so many still do not have their DP3, what a mess. Now they are printing more, how will they be numbered? Hopefully after this release is all delivered they will clean up their act for future releases.

The official word:
This item is temporarily unavailable.
We have a small quantity of units still coming off the line. We will notify dead.net subscribers when the last of the 9,000 units are available for purchase.

Thank you for your email. I am sorry to learn of the damaged shipment you received. There is no need for you to return the damaged item. I have forwarded the information to the proper department for assistance. Please allow 24-72 hours for a response. If you need any further assistance, please let us know.

Best regards,

Jessica
Customer Care Center

Customer By Email (James ) - 08/25/2012 03:58 PM
hi,
my disc 2 from the Hartford show is cracked from the center out and will not read/play.
what is the protocol to get that cd replaced?
thanks.
james

Thank you for your email. I am sorry to learn of the damaged shipment you received. There is no need for you to return the damaged item. I have forwarded the information to the proper department for assistance. Please allow 24-72 hours for a response. If you need any further assistance, please let us know.

Best regards,

Jessica
Customer Care Center

Customer By Email (James Lamperetta) - 08/25/2012 03:58 PM
hi,
my disc 2 from the Hartford show is cracked from the center out and will not read/play.
what is the protocol to get that cd replaced?
thanks.
james lamperetta
Hello James

1971 - one of my favorite eras. And no Donna to ruin it with her screeching voice! And Bobby is just singing and not adding al those irritating flourishes that he started in the early '80's. I'm looking forward to perusing this.

Actually, what would you call the era from 1965 to 1977? That's my favorite. But that might be a few eras really, depending on how yo slice and dice it. Just off the top of my head:

65-69, 70-72 - two very different sounding Pigpen eras. Jerry was hot as hell most of it and in my opinion the greatest rock guitarist in the world, bar none, even Hendrix.
73-79 - Donna and Keith era - this is the one I attended all of my shows at and I love it in spite of Donna.
79-89 - Brent started but it's not his fault. I stopped going they were so tired and Jerry's heroin usage escalated and obviously affected his play. Although I may have missed out here and there but I didn't want to go to a dozen shows to hopefully get a good one.
[Trivia: did people know that the duo drum section started in '76 to give Jerry time to go back stage to mainline some H and rest?]
90 improve a bit but not back to '60's and '70's quality.
95 - a very sad year :(

1971 is what I'm talkin' 'bout! Jerry is so fresh. Young voice, sharp guitar. Yeah baby!

First off, not sure why anyone who already knows that they don't like this era would plop $200+ down for it. For the trinkets? Gotta buy EVERYTHING that GDM puts out? What long time head hasn't heard these shows or at least a huge sampling from this tour/era? You had to know what you were getting.

My favorite eras are 1972-1974, 1977 and 1989-1991. For me, the peak of the Brent era was 1990. Sure, there are uneven shows and moments in there, but I'm often drawn to that year when I want to hear some Brent.

I already have/had a bunch of shows from this tour (possibly the whole tour?) due to being a long-time collector before the band pulled them from the trading sites (and of course going back to cassette trading and cdr trading). What I didn't have was professional mixes of them and that's what drew me to this collection. Like another poster mentioned, I wanted to hear more that sounded deep and vibrant like Without a Net does. These live up to that very nicely. I guess they didn't use the multi-track recordings (why not?), but it sure sounds like they did.

I'm a little surprised by the selections as I would have chosen 4/1 instead of 4/2 and 3/29 over 3/30, but that's just a quibble. Not sure why they included a Knickerbocker show since we already have a good sampling from that run, but whatever.

Overall, I'm enjoying the heck out of this and have listened to maybe 4 of the 6 shows so far. There are some flubs as well as brilliance, surrounding lots and lots of solid playing.

I will vehemently disagree however that this is the last great tour. Fall 1991 was the last great tour and exceeds Spring 1990. Listen to 9/6/91 through the rest of that run and tell me that it wasn't EPIC.

Not sure it's worth 2 bills, but I'm borrowing it from a buddy who's one of those Gotta Buy Everything people, so all I can say is it's definitely worth my listen.

I think I figured it out - simply that there are many DIFFERENT kinds of Dead Heads.

I can't pretend to know the different types. I know what I am. But other types might be those that simply like the music and the "scene". Others just like it as "easy listening" in the background while doing other things. Maybe some like the space and others like the melody songs, and others like the jams.
And some, like me, like to really dig deep and listen to every note Jerry plays! He's the reason I listen to the Dead. No other reason.

I may not even be a "Dead Head" per se since it's really just Jerry that I like. He was a consummate musician, at least a good deal of the time. But not always. So I naturally compare eras. He was best in 69-70, no doubt in my mind. He was terrific from then until 77 and then went down hill. He got somewhat better in the early '90's but never as good as his earlier years.

Now, I 'm not saying any of this to insult anyone else's opinion. It's just mine.
To my mind the rest of the band are okay as a back up band to Jerry. I am CONVINCED that if Jerry never existed none of these other dudes would have made it to much recognition in the music world. At least not very popularly. Most of use would never have heard of them. And we wouldn't be listening to all the spin-offs like Further and the solo stuff. They wouldn't exist. They were carried by Jerry, period. Without Jerry the phenomenon of the Grateful Dead never would have gotten past small clubs if that.
I personally think Further sucks pretty bad. I turn it off when it comes on the XM Radio Dead station. It's like a "tribute band"! Again, just my opinion so don't get all hot under the collar!

Robert Hunter was a great poet. He's my second favorite Dead.
Phil was a great musician in many ways but never would have gotten so popular without Jerry.
Bob, meh. Very good rhythm guitarist, taught largely by Jerry. Vocals, song writing, and personality - not my cup of tea. He was always jealous of Jerry being the front man. He wanted to be the front man but just plain old didn't have the talent or personality.
Drummers - very good but the Dead could have gone on with different ones.
Keyboards - Pigpen was the only GREAT one.
Donna - OMG why was she ever in the Dead?! Just horrible. Sounded like a bag full of cats being hit with a bat. Okay on a couple of studio albums but ruined many a live concert recording.

The Grateful Dead could have continued with the death of ANYONE but Jerry. Bob's rhythm guitar would have been hard to replace - the sound would have doubtless changed quite a bit. But it could have been done. Same with Phil. And the rest could be exchanged quite easily.

PEOPLE< PEOPLE< PEOPLE
i am not dissing anybody or any era! i am just saying its not my favorite time! i still am going to all the shows i can. no matter the configuration Weir solo, Furthur, 7 Walkers, or Mickey Hart Band where else can you get what we all seek!
As far as my comment "Mickey left the ranch" that was all GOOD! i think he was the "blistering" one during these shows and you can clearly hear him evolving into a new "space" with his drumming while still "jamming" ( Whatever that means!) i am really digging his recent shows!
Hope to see you all in Philly next week @ Weir solo and MHB shows!

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